


Greyscale

by dodecahedrons



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-07-12
Packaged: 2017-12-19 07:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/881082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dodecahedrons/pseuds/dodecahedrons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"For every disobedient act, there is bound to be a consequence. At least, that's how it usually works. For the most part, these consequences are never severe, given the disobedience wasn't severe. But give a man power, and he may abuse it. Especially if that power is over collections of ones and zeros who seemingly have no real feelings. "</p>
            </blockquote>





	Greyscale

For every disobedient act, there is bound to be a consequence. At least, that's how it usually works. But for the most part, these consequences are never severe, given the disobedience wasn't severe.

  
But say you were a program at the will of your creator. Programs can be altered and changed, and even corrupted if done incorrectly, but this is just common knowledge. Say your programs were actually people inside of your computer. That changes things, doesn't it?

  
The creator of the program would want his creation to be obedient, and therefore he'd program it to act as he wanted. But just as a person can bend the rules, so can a humanoid program.

  
Given you've allowed your program to have basic 'senses', such as the ability to produce sound, understand what you do outside of the program, and work on its own to some extent, you are bound to have to work with it occasionally if not more. After all, even perfectly programmed, high-grade equipment sometimes has an issue. What would make you think a small humanoid program wouldn't?

  
If your humanoid program were to disobey you, what kind of punishment would you give?

  
Granted, humanoid programs can be made from anything if you put your mind to it. And one man happened to take up that challenge. He created humanoid programs out of the various Vocaloid voice banks he had in his computer, as to make editing music easier. They'd learn the basics and eventually be able to just sing as he wanted after the lyrics are put in.

....But give a man power, and he may abuse it. Especially if that power is over collections of ones and zeros who seemingly have no real feelings. Step out of the program, and you're likely to be punished.

 

* * *

 

  
Kaito Shion, a blue-haired man about the age of twenty, was sitting in his house. There was a scheduled practice session for he and a few other Vocaloids to attend in a few hours, but to kill time, he decided he would work on one of his own songs.

  
The song's theme was color. He just wasn't sure exactly what about color he was going to write on. Several ideas had passed through his mind, but he couldn't quite get down any other line beside "what color do you like".

  
Standing and stretching, he began to half-aimlessly wander around, glancing at several tables or shelves to see if there was a pen anywhere. All the while, he was continuing to ponder on what his song would be about. No wonder it took forever for Master to write songs for them to sing.

  
As he continued to look for a pen and half-wander around the house, his cellphone rang. Who was calling other than Luka? Probably nobody. He was right. He took his phone out of his pocket and answered the call. Before he could even say anything, there was an excited laugh on the other side followed by a just as excited statement.

  
"Kaitoo! I wrote a song for us to showcase to master!" she giggled.

  
"Oh? What about?" he hummed, slowly making his way back to the living room to sit on the couch.

  
"You'll see!" she hummed. There was a faint sound of papers being shuffled in the background of Luka's side. "How about we meet up in a few to practice? I have a basic idea of a beat and the lyrics written out on paper...two copies! One for me and one for you."

  
"Learn an entire song just a few hours before a practice session? I dunno... do you think we could really do that?" Kaito asked, just a bit nervously.

  
"Why not? I'm sure we could learn it in half the time we have!" she responded, a smile evident in her voice. Kaito smiled in turn.

  
"Alright. Where are we meeting up to practice?" he inquired.

  
"Meet me by the practice hall," she responded. The sound of a door opening was heard.

  
"Okay!" Kaito grinned, standing and wandering toward the door, slipping his shoes on.

  
"Love you," Luka chirped, and Kaito could almost hear the smile turn into a grin.

 

"Love you, too," he replied, humming and hanging up on the call.

  
A new song, huh? Maybe Master would really like it. Who knows? Maybe it could become one of the most popular yet!

  
With that in mind, Kaito slid his cellphone into his pocket and headed out the door.

 

* * *

 

  
Time flies so quickly when you're having fun. By the time Luka and Kaito had finally gotten the harmonies down, several Vocaloids could be seen coming toward the practice hall.

  
"So, when are we going to showcase the song?" Kaito hummed, walking next to Luka whilst entering the building.  
"Hmmm...I dunno..." Luka responded, stretching a bit as they walked. "Probably after the session? I mean, we don't have much free time between now and then, anyway."

  
"Good point..." Kaito sighed. "Hopefully the new songs Master has for us are good."  
"I hope we don't have to cover anything too hard," Luka laughed just a bit nervously. "Especially any of the English Vocaloids' songs. Those are always so hard for me to sing."

  
"Master's been working with me on my English. I like to think I'm pretty good with it. It's just sometimes I can't seem to fit all the syllables into what I'm supposed to," Kaito explained. "But I still prefer Japanese."

  
Luka looked up at Kaito as they neared a door. "Okay, I'll meet up with you here after our sessions!" she smiled. She stood on her tip-toes and kissed Kato's cheek before giggling and running toward her practice room. Kaito smiled and watched her run, humming a bit to himself.

  
His session wasn't for twenty minutes, so he figured he could just go to his assigned room and try to work on his song. He wandered toward the room, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and going through the open door. Sliding into a chair, he pulled a pencil out of a nearby cup and began to tap the eraser against the paper.

God...why couldn't he think of any lyrics?

  
He would write down a line he thought was good and then quickly erase it. What was he supposed to put with "what color do you like"?

  
Was he supposed to just start listing colors?

  
Was he supposed to describe the color red or something?

  
What did he have to do to get some good lyrics?

  
As he pondered these rather ridiculous questions, a man came in the room.

  
Right. It had been twenty minutes already. Man, it really felt like it'd only been a minute or two. Then again, maybe he wasn't supposed to have waited twenty minutes. Had the e-mail said twenty or two?

  
"Kaito? Are you ready for vocal training?" a rather deep voice inquired. Master was here. Kaito quickly scrambled to fold his paper and shove it in his pocket.  
"A-Ah...yes, sir!" Kaito nodded. The man glared a bit, but soon shook it off.

 

"Alright, so here's what we're going to practice...."

* * *

 

  
Both Luka and Kaito did well in their practices. Luka practiced Perfectionist Complex and Kaito got the opportunity to cover Kokoro. Well, at least it wasn't the worst song to cover.

  
"So...do we showcase it now?" Luka hummed.

  
"Hm?" Kaito blinked. "Ah...right. Yeah, I think we should."

"Kay! Come on!" Luka grinned, taking Kaito's hand and running in the direction of Master's office.

  
Down a rather long hallway you could find the office. Master was usually in there, possibly reviewing audio recordings he'd acquired during the practices, or writing up new songs, or doing something related to those two. But whatever it is he was doing while in there at this moment was interrupted by a soft knock at the door.  
"A-Ah yes...come in," the man responded. The doorknob twisted, and Luka and Kaito emerged through the now open doorway.

  
"Master, we wrote a song, and we'd like to showcase it for you," Kaito began. Master raised an eyebrow at this, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.  
"Oh really? Well then...go ahead," he requested. "Sing it for me."

  
Luka and Kaito nodded in response. The pink haired girl pulled out an mp3 player from her pocket and shuffled toward the speakers Master had on his desk, plugging it in to them and setting it to the rough music track she had prepared. Aftewards, she shuffled back to Kaito and stood, waiting for their part to begin.

  
The song was called Circus Monster.

  
Originally, Luka had planned to sing it herself, but upon further inspection and practice of it, she had figured it'd sound better if it were a duet.

  
The song was in English, a language Master could, surprisingly, speak. I guess he'd have to speak it, though. I mean, he was developing English programs for the Vocaloids.

  
As the song went on, Master's straight face grew more and more grim. The lyrics seemed off...almost as if they were singing about him. Before the track was over, he calmly unplugged the MP3 player before crushing it in his hand. The duo stopped their singing, just staring at the man.

  
"Luka....Kaito...I'd like to tell you something," he practically growled. Luka whimpered, moving to hide behind Kaito who, rather shakily, stood protectively in front of her. Standing, Master walked over to the two. He reached around Kaito and gripped Luka by the back of her shirt, and gripped Kaito by his scarf. "You two are going to regret writing that."

  
With a bit of struggle, Master managed to get the two into a room hidden below the office.

  
Dimly lit, the room was atop a computer chip-like flooring. It was the area known by many as the motherboard. If you're brought down there… Well, just pray to God you aren't. Many things had happened in the past, but the most recent thing was with Rin and Len Kagamine. That, though, is a story for another day.

  
The two shakily followed Master - not that they had a choice - toward the back, where their panels were. Once he got there, he shoved the two down.

  
"You know, I expected nothing more out of you, Kaito. You always do this sort of thing..." he mused. "But, Luka....I never expected anything like this. You seemed so pure."

  
"Pure?" Luka laughed. She opened her mouth to say something, but Kaito quickly covered it, rendering her next words muffled. Master sighed, beginning to pace.  
"How to punish you two..." he thought aloud. "Let's see....should it be something akin to Meiko's punishment? The Kagamines? Miku? No.... none of those were creative enough..."

  
After a moment, he just began to silently pace, the only sounds heard in the room being the sound of a shoe hitting the ground and the heavy breathing coming from the wide-eyed Luka.

  
No more than five minutes later did Master freeze and grin. He pulled two USB chords out and went behind the two. Pushing Kaito's scarf and Luka's hair out of the way, he managed to slide the plug into the USB slots on the backs of their necks. Luka whined and Kaito sat still.

  
He quickly began to work on Luka first, rearranging and re-coding her programming and different aspects of her personality. Luka whined, holding her head as she felt things changing. Slowly, the look on her face began to change to that of a serious one. The bright look in her eyes quickly dulled and the smile that was always evident on her lips, even when she wasn't smiling, faded completely. Kaito watched in horror, eyes widening slightly.

  
A few moments more passed and Master unplugged Luka, quickly hurrying to work on Kaito.

  
Kaito's punishment took, by far, much less re-writing and rearranging. Master had debated wiping his memory clear, but, judging how quickly he had broken the rules and took on his own life when he did have a pure mind, it seemed like the punishment would be voided quickly. Instead, he chose something smaller to seem like that was the main punishment when, in reality, keeping his memory would be harder. After all, he would have to remember exactly how Luka was. It was quite obvious the two were close. Wiping his memory clear would just be the easy way out.

  
All it really took to work on the so called 'punishment' was a few simple clicks of the mouse and a few files being moved. Kaito whined, closing his eyes, holding his head now. He was used to modifications, but he could feel something pulsing throughout his head. A moment later, Master unplugged the USB cable, a smirk evident in his tone.

  
"Luka, stand. Kaito, open your eyes."

 

Obeying, Luka stood, almost in a military-like stance. She stared straight ahead, an empty look on her face.

  
Kaito shook his head, covering his face. "M-My eyes hurt..." he mumbled. "I don't w-want to open them."

  
"Kaito. Open your eyes right now," Master commanded, the smirk in his voice slipping to a frown. After a moment, Kaito obeyed, blinking. A scared look came over him, and he jumped back.

  
"W-Where's the color? What happened? Why is everything so plain?" he asked quickly, eyes wide. Master chuckled, regaining his smirk.

  
"Luka, please escort our colorblind friend to his house," Master commanded. Luka nodded.

  
"Yes, Sir."

  
Just that simple, seemingly soulless phrase made Kaito realize he didn't have his Luka anymore.

 

* * *

 

  
It had been raining for quite a while, as was evident by the massive puddles everywhere. The walk from the practice center was a long one, especially to get to the neighborhood in which Kaito lived. The way, usually made easier to remember by landmarks, was going to have to be re-memorized, as he generally chose the landmarks by color. At least he had Luka guiding him...

 

Luka.

  
Kaito stared down at his feet, following the sound of her footsteps as he walked. Master had completely reprogrammed Luka, hadn't he? That's why she didn't even look like herself now...isn't it? She didn't remember him the way he remembered her. She knew him as Kaito Shion, one of the original Vocaloids, and that's it. Master had completely erased her memory.

  
Why couldn't he have spared him and erased his memory as well?

  
Probably as more punishment than making him colorblind.

  
Sighing, Kaito looked up just as Luka stopped.

  
"This is your place, is it not?" she inquired, turning to him. There was no emotion in the question, and no expression on her face. He nodded softly after glancing over.  
"Yeah...Thanks," he mumbled. Luka turned to walk away, but Kaito put a hand on her shoulder. He took a deep breath, waiting until she turned to pull her into a hug.  
"W-What are you doing?" she gasped, eyes widening. "We are not supposed to have any contact outside of the videos!"

  
Kaito began to shake a little. "L-Listen...I know Master completely wiped your memory, but...I k-know my Luka has to be in there somewhere..." he took a deep breath, pulling away from the hug and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "...Please, don't say she's gone...p-please!"

  
The pink-haired girl just stared at the emotional wreck that was Kaito. She seemed as if she were scanning her memory...but she shook her head.

  
" 'Your Luka' doesn't seem to match anything in my database," she responded. Kaito whined.

  
"...L-Luka...please tell m-me you're just joking..." he whispered. "This can't....This can't be happening..."

  
"I don't know how to 'joke'," she responded. After a moment, she turned. "I will see you at practice tomorrow."

  
At that, she left Kaito in the rain, wide eyed and crying, without a single emotion.

 

* * *

 

  
It had been a month, and Kaito had managed to wipe it from his memory. He couldn't remember if he ever dated Luka or not. He chose to not remember how happy he was with her. Instead, he completely devoted himself to his music.

  
Since that day everything went wrong, Master had taken Circus Monster and made it a song for both Luka and Kaito to have their own versions of. He was debating letting them cover it together.

It had also been a month since he'd started writing his own song about color. Being colorblind didn't help that much, though, so he changed the topic to asking what exactly color was. It was such a hard topic to remember.

  
And, yes, he had gotten past, "what color do you like".

  
He was planning on showcasing it to Master in hopes of it becoming successful. Really, even if Master got mad at him for it, what did it matter? What was there to take away from him this time?

  
With a sigh, he slid his shoes on, patting his pocket to make sure his lyrics were still there. With a determined face, he opened the door and walked on to where he would face the man who took his happiness.

  
Hopefully, he would find a new kind of happiness in the process.

**Author's Note:**

> Haha...so this is my first work here. Vocaloid is always a great way to start things off, eh?
> 
> This was edited by my friend, who also developed the AU this takes place in. The AU really doesn't have a name, though. Heh....Its just our take on the Vocaloid universe? I dunno.
> 
> Anyway I hope you guys liked this! c:


End file.
